Employees’ free healthcare services under threat

The National Health Security Office (NHSO), which has managed the medical-benefit scheme for the employees, announced recently that funds were running out.
If the government does not allocate Bt9 billion more from the central budget to the scheme in the next few months, available funds will run out in April. At present, the scheme covers 613,650 employees of local administrative bodies.
Dr Sakchai Kanjanawattana, the acting secretary-general of the NHSO, said yesterday that the Interior Ministry would need to provide Bt9 billion for the scheme to stay operational in the current fiscal year, which runs until September 30.
Records show the scheme’s monthly operating expenses are now about Bt466 million.
“We have already made clear to the Interior Ministry that it has to provide an additional budget. We can’t take financial resources from the universal healthcare scheme to advance the money for local-administrative-body employees, ” Sakchai said.
The NHSO has managed the universal healthcare scheme, which covers most of the population, for more than a decade.
In 2014, the NHSO agreed to manage the healthcare scheme for local administrative body employees as well at the request of the Interior Ministry.
Just like civil servants, employees of local administrative bodies are entitled to healthcare benefits provided by their employers. In principle, they are reimbursed for almost all kinds of medical treatment.
In the past, every local administrative body received a budget from the Interior Ministry and handled the budget for reimbursements. However, that changed years ago after an employee of a local administrative body committed suicide allegedly over healthcare expenses.
The Interior Ministry then asked the NHSO to help to manage the scheme to ensure local administrative body employees did not have any difficulties exercising their right to receive medical benefits.
Under the current memorandum of understanding, the NHSO will have to advance the money for the operation of the scheme and be reimbursed later if funds run out.
The NHSO, however, has insisted that it cannot shoulder such a financial burden and it is now in the process of seeking an amendment to the memorandum.
The Interior Ministry and the NHSO will hold a meeting on the budget and the proposed MOU amendment next week.
A source at the ministry said the additional budget was uncertain.
  Budget for medical benefits for local administrative body employees

Fiscal Year     No of Covered Employees    No of Medical Visits    Total Expense    Per-Head Expense
2014     578,525    2.1 million    Bt3.42 billion    Bt5,913
2015    611,982    2.5 million    Bt4.65billion    Bt7,612
2016    615,157    2.8 million    Bt5.59billion    Bt9,096